Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Uninspired

I dunno why but we are singularly uninspired o' late. I have a few theories but none of 'em hold up very well under close examination. It's certainly not the weather, which has been about as good as it gets for this time o' year (read as: we're still takin' Happy Hour on the verandah). It might could be the time change, which throws me off balance for about a week... both coming and going... or should I say "springing and falling?" It also might could be that fewer and fewer of my blogging friends are actually... you know... BLOGGING. FuckingObama (<=== all one word) would blame Boosh for that but me? I blame FuckingFacebook (<=== all one word). OTOH, this may be a classic case of my Muse decamping, as she's been known to do in the past. I suppose even Muses need a break sometimes.

As long as we're pissing and moaning about things... I've quit reading the political cartoons at Townhall.com because there's a rogue script on their page that locks up Firefox after viewing three cartoons. It happens EVERY damned time I go there... forcing me to kill Firefox and reload... so we're doing the obvious thing and not going there any longer. I kinda miss the 'toons.So. We've unburdened ourselves just a wee bit and I thank you for your attention. Now I suppose you're expecting me to entertain you, eh? Well, thankfully I have rather extensive archives to fall back on when we are less than inspired and here's a lil sumthin' I came across yesterday while searching for that post about the 883. Are the posts related? No. But who knows what evil lurks in the Blogger search function? Not I.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

A Few Odds and Ends... as Usual

(Photo as captioned here)
Three Air Force aircraft, together with multiple aircrew, aeromedical
evacuation teams, and agencies from around the world, came together in
late July 2009 to transfer a seriously wounded British soldier from
Afghanistan to Germany so that he could receive upgraded medical care.
The soldier arrived at Ramstein Air Base on Aug. 2, 2009, and as of Aug.
4, 2009, was listed in critical condition in a university hospital.
Here, in another scenario, airmen prepare to offload patients from a bus
onto a C-17 at Ramstein for transfer to the US for further medical
treatment, April 21, 2009.Air Force photo by A1C Grovert Fuentes-Contreras

Just Another Day at the Office: Two
Air Force C-17s and one C-130, along with multiple aircrews,
aeromedical evacuation teams, and agencies from around the world, came
together in late July to help save the life of a British soldier who was
seriously wounded in Afghanistan. This soldier had sustained multiple
gunshot wounds to the abdomen and chest. Medical personnel determined
that he had to be taken to Germany for upgraded care. Immediately, Air
Mobility Command officials sprang into action to coordinate the complex
task of the patient's move. "Not only did we have to find a plane and
crew to fly the patient out of theater, but also we had to find another
plane and aircrew to get the right medical personnel and equipment into
Afghanistan because we needed specialized medical teams to care for the
patient in-flight," said Col. John Martins, director of operations of
the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB, Ill. Despite the
Herculean challenge, the patient was on a C-17 heading to Ramstein Air
Base within 22 hours of the first call for help. He arrived at Ramstein
on Aug. 2, and as of Aug. 4 was at a university hospital in Germany in
critical condition—but alive. "When you look at the requirements we had,
its awe inspiring to see how many people will come together to save one
life," said MSgt. Keyser Voigt, an aeromedical evacuation mission
controller in the TACC. (Scott report by Capt. Justin Brockhoff)

New Reaper Unit: Air Force Special Operations Command activated the 33rd Special Operations Squadron last Friday at Cannon AFB, N.M. The Clovis News Journal reported
that day that the new unit will operate the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial
vehicle, which is already playing an important role in countering the
Taliban in Afghanistan and insurgents in Iraq. "This unit is more than
ready to answer our nation's call to duty," said Lt. Col. Michael
Bruzzini, the squadron commander, at the activation ceremony. He added,
"The MQ-9 is an awesome platform, but it is these individuals that will
make our enemies truly fear the Reaper." Bruzzini said the squadron's
members spent six months getting ready for the activation, operating out
of no less than five locations to learn Reaper tactics, techniques, and
procedures and mold themselves into a cohesive fighting force. AFSOC already operates the 3rd SOS, an MQ-1 Predator UAV unit, out of Cannon.

I never made it to the party, actually. That's one of the problems with being retarded retired… The Cool Kids never ask you to their parties anymore. But occasionally you get to shoot the breeze with one of 'em.

Apropos
of nothing… I've yet to see either a Reaper or a Pred in the skies over
P-Ville or on the ramp out at Cannon Airplane Patch. They must be stealthy lil buggers.

Really
apropos of nothing… There was a C-130 droning around overhead just
before I shot "The Birds" last evening, and I thought ever-so-briefly
about beginning the video then (you know: there are birds and then there are BIRDS). There was just one lil problem: the groundsfolks were also droning around on their spiffy John Deere, one lot over from me. I use the term "droning" in reference to the Deere loosely… "roaring around" would be more like it. Dunno what it is about guys and riding mowers… but I used to be the same way with mine. On the straights, of course. One always slows down in the turns and around the trees. If one has half a brain.

―:☺:―

So…
I was looking at a Site Meter record and the google search that drove
him to EIP… some guy googled "Nica Libre cigar reviews"… and I stumbled
upon Teresa, aka The Smoking Hot Cigar Chick:

Whaddaya think? Hot? Or not? I'm of the opinion that women who smoke cigars ARE hot. Before you jump to conclusions… remember what Freud said: "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

―:☺:―

Speaking of hot — Here's another in a series of occasional conversations with Sweet Young Thangs. So, there I was… standing in a line of two at the Local Liquor Mart, me and this twenty-something chica
who… from all appearances… must have been one helluva swimmer (based
upon my casual observation of her obvious lung capacity). We were
waiting for the clerk to ring me up. I'd run out
of single-malt Monday evening and didn't feel like making the 28-mile
roundtrip out to the Class VI Store, and an adolescent bottle of
Glenfiddich (a sprightly 15-year old) is actually about a fin cheaper
than what Balvenie of the same age costs out at Cannon. Ergo, laziness (and expedience) being the Mom of Invention… there I was. Still and even, Glenfiddich ain't cheap. The stage is set.

She: Is that whiskey?Me: Yup.She: Is it good?Me: Yup… most definitely.She: Well, it should be… for the price!Me: (winking) Darlin, when you get to be my age you don't cut corners on what few pleasures remain.She: (Big-Ass grin)

Two
things in play here… (1) I'm afraid I'm turning into one of those
irritating geezers who play the age card at every freakin' opportunity. I HATE that, but I can't seem to help myself. (2) One of these days I'm gonna follow up on these smiles I get. Read as (substituting the following for my last response above): "Would you like to come back to my place, sit on the verandah and sample a couple o' fingers of this most-excellent whiskey?" Or some such.

On
the one hand, I'm probably just an approachable, kindly old grandfather
type... the most-likely scenario. OTOH, "nothing ventured, nothing
gained"... as it's said. On the other, other hand... I'm not in the
habit of writing checks with my mouth that my ass can't cash. That girl
could've HURT me, and I mean that in the best possible way.

You should read the comments to that post, Gentle Reader. We actually had sumthin' of a commentariat four years ago... as opposed to the two or three folks that grace me with their thoughts these days. Ah... Former Happy Days.

The past five days have relegated me almost exclusively to Facebook.The only reason I got out today was because I could get on this here glorified word processsor.For some reason my phone won't let me log in to blooger.So all I can do is lurk.